


Remembering

by thecookiemomma



Category: NCIS
Genre: Challenge Response, Community: nfacommunity, Episode: s03e23 Hiatus Part I, Fix-It, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 10:24:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4518249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecookiemomma/pseuds/thecookiemomma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Fix-it Fic Challenge at NFA.  Gibbs remembers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remembering

**Author's Note:**

> Hiatus, as you may know, is one of my least favorite episodes. This is my blatant fix it. When Sarah proposed the challenge, I knew what episode I'd be fixing. At least for the first one.

Hiatus: 

The images flashed before his eyes, and other images joined them. He sat down hard on the bed, unable to figure out which were new and which were old. He sighed. There was somebody in them that featured prominently. He followed him around like a puppy. _Like a loyal St. Bernard._

He blinked. Where had that thought come from? He ran his hands through his hair gently, feeling the grime of staying in a hospital for so long. The nurses kept him clean, but there was just something about . . . _“You know, Boss, staying in the hospital always makes me feel so gross. Between being on display for all the doctors and nurses, and the weird . . . scientific sounds beeping throughout the room, it makes me feel like Frankenstein's monster.” “Go to sleep, DiNozzo. I'll make sure you don't start wandering around and crashing into things.” There had been a surprised laugh then, and then the kid had gone back to sleep, under blue lights._

He stared at the wall. Blue lights. He pushed the call button and a nurse came in. “What kinda room in here would you have to be in for the lights to be all blue?” He knew it was the same hospital. That much was pretty damn clear. 

“That's our isolation ward, sir. You sat in there for several hours with Agent DiNozzo when he had the Y. Pestis.” His face must have shown the confusion he felt, because she elaborated. “The plague, sir.” 

The memories flooded back. _“Nobody dies of the goddammed plague anymore, DiNozzo . . . you. Will. Not. Die.”_ He blinked, looked around, and then shook his head, ignoring the pain from the injuries. “Could you uh . . .” 

“What do you need, Agent Gibbs?” The nurse stepped closer. 

“Could you get DiNozzo for me?” He gestured. “Or if he's not here, have him come in when he gets back?” He saw the nurse's wry smile. 

“I could do that, yes.” She stepped out of the room, and came back shortly. 

“Hey, Boss. You're looking like five miles of bad road.” DiNozzo came in and sat in the chair. 

“Help me out here, DiNozzo. I can't remember a damn thing. Did you really get the damn plague?” 

“Yeah, Boss. I got the plague. We had a crazy woman who wanted to destroy NCIS because her daughter supposedly had been raped. Thing was, the daughter had lied about the whole thing. I bet the original agent had known and just hushed it up to try to prevent her mother going apeshit.” 

“Yeah, probably.” Gibbs remembered that much. A male-dominated culture sometimes had no idea what to do when a woman stepped outside expectations. So, often, they'd let it slide. It was a horrible idea, but that was how it went. He shrugged. “Were we . . .” Speaking of things outside the cultural norms. 

“Were we what, Gibbs?” Tony asked, leaning forward, looking him straight in the eye. 

“Aw, Hell, DiNozzo. I don't know how to ask this.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I don't know if I _should_ ask this. I can't remember the names of the rest of my team. The black haired girl from the lab. The mousy young guy. And we've kinda switched the women on our team? And I remember Ducky.” He wasn't gonna tell DiNozzo that he remembered him because the doctor had clarified things for him when the younger man was recovering from the plague. 

A soft smile crossed DiNozzo's face, but he didn't make any of the obvious jokes. “I'm still not hearing a question, Boss.” He spoke softly. Gibbs blinked. He knew he'd heard that tone of voice before, but not often. 

“Tryin' to decide if I should ask you . . .” He sighed, growling slightly when a wave of nausea passed through him. 

“Don't push it, Gibbs. It'll come, or it won't.” DiNozzo leaned back in his own chair. “Lie down, Boss. I won't leave if you rest.” 

“Yeah.” That sounded like an excellent idea. He lay down again, and closed his eyes. The dreams began shortly thereafter.

* * *

Tony sighed. Doctor Gelfland had told him that it wasn't certain he'd get his memories back. It looked like he'd get them back a lot sooner than they all expected. Whether that was a good thing remained to be seen.

He closed his eyes, stretched out a little, and pulled his cap down over his eyes. If the Boss was going to doze, he was too. The past few days had been hell on him, too. As he fell asleep, a memory crossed his mind, setting the tone for his dreams. 

_“Hey.” Gibbs looked up as Tony came down the stairs with pizza. “So, what are you working on now? Still on the boat?”_

_“What's it look like, DiNozzo?” Gibbs groused, though Tony knew it was good-naturedly._

_“Well, you could be working on a super secret project and not want me to know about it.” As he spoke, Gibbs turned around to him, glaring slightly.”_

_“Right. If you didn't want me to know about it, I wouldn't be here.” Tony thought he heard a 'damn straight,' but he didn't comment any further. “Brought you pizza. You mind just eating from the box, or should I go get plates?”_

_“Box's fine.” Gibbs flipped open the box just as Tony set it down, and grabbed a piece of pizza. “What brings you down here tonight, DiNozzo?”_

_Tony hadn't been working for Gibbs long, but he'd learned how to differentiate curiosity from frustration pretty quickly. This was curiosity. “Just wanted to spend time with you.” He shrugged._

_“Yeah. Got that. Somethin' specific on your mind, or just want to sit and chat?” Gibbs snorted, though Tony knew there wasn't any malice in it._

_“Well, might be something. Don't know how to say it, though.”_

_“Just spit it out. Not gonna yell at you for sayin' what's on your mind.” Gibbs gave him a half-smile, like he could literally read his mind. Tony rolled his eyes._

_“Well, Gibbs, it's like this. Somewhere, in the short period of time I've been working for you, I've fallen for you. Like hook, line, and sinker. If that's a problem, I'll move on. I mean, it has been before.”_

_“Not a problem.” Tony waited to see if Gibbs was going to say more. “Rule 12.”_

_“Yeah, I know. I know it's never gonna happen while I'm working for you, and I like working for you.” He sighed. He always did get himself into sticky situations. Running a hand through his hair, he chewed on his lip. “I just thought you oughtta know, because it might affect. . .”_

_“Yeah.” Gibbs kept chewing his pizza, and Tony wanted to throw something at the other man's head. He could kind of empathize with the ex wives at this point. “Thinkin' about ignorin' Rule 12.”_

_“But it's your rule.” Tony was confused._

_“Yeah, but . . .” Gibbs shrugged. “It's my rule.”_

_Tony huffed in amusement. “Fair enough.” He stood, walked over to the other man, and took the pizza from his fingers. When Gibbs protested, Tony grinned. “I'm not going to eat it. I just want to make sure this isn't a moot point.”_

_Gibbs' eyebrows raised, and his grin widened. Tony leaned in, pressing his lips against Gibbs, softly, light as he could. He just wanted a taste, just a second of touch._

_“Not enough, DiNozzo.” Gibbs grabbed him before he could step away again, and pulled him back in, tilting his head and leaning in to kiss him thoroughly._

_“Yeah,” Tony replied when they finally broke apart. “That works.”_

* * *

Tony woke up when Gibbs started thrashing. “Hey, Jethro. It's okay, man. I'm here. It's okay.”

“Tony?” Gibbs woke up completely, and stared blearily at the other man. “Tony.” He sounded so relieved. “I had a dream. It started with you running from an exploding trunk, and ending up in my basement. I remember.” 

“Good, Jethro. It's good to know I'm so hard to forget.” 

“Dumbass,” Gibbs muttered, but his smile was fond. “C'mere.” He quirked his finger, and as always, Tony came. Gibbs slid his hands up the side of Tony's face, reacquainting himself with the feel of his skin. He leaned in for a soft kiss, and sighed. 

“That's not enough,” Tony whispered, in echo of his memory. He added his own commentary. “It's never enough.”


End file.
